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Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

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Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#271

Post by jimbokun »

munificent wrote: post #146
yanslookup wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't match my experience. I guess it depends on the role but for engineers it's well known Amazon has been throwing large sign on bonuses to close the vesting gap for years. For instance I received an offer that was 160 base, 325 cash bonus and 5% of my RSUs for my first year, putting my TC at ~510k. Second year was a slightly smaller bonus, and 15% of my RSUs. Is it possible that when folks were voluntarily…

> I received an offer that was 160 base, 325 cash bonus and 5% of my RSUs for my first year, putting my TC at ~510k. I don't understand the appeal of cash signing bonuses. This just seems to me like another way of saying you got hired for a $485k annual salary while giving Amazon the freedom to cut your salary a year from now by up to ~67%. Why give your future self that risk instead of looking for a higher base sala…

If the cash bonus is guaranteed, it's arguably less risky to get that up front because you could get fired or laid off after one year and not see the benefits of the higher base salary.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#272

Post by etempleton »

abletonlive wrote: post #239
etempleton wrote: post #228

This is good news for tech workers, but the income disparity between Amazon tech workers and Amazon warehouse/delivery workers is absolutely obscene. Understandably, skilled vs unskilled labor, and supply and demand, and all that, but as Jon Stewart recently recounted telling Jeff Bezos at a dinner party, “sounds like a recipe for a revolution.”

not only skilled vs unskilled labor. but an engineer can produce a system which generates millions of revenue a day. a warehouse worker, cannot scale this way.

This is very true, but at some point you need to value people at a base level. Warehouse work is grueling and you can easily get hurt. 16 /hr, which is the base of an Amazon warehouse worker, is below a livable wage w/o kids in much of the country.

There is what you can get away with and what is right. At some point you just have to do what is right.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#273

Post by optimiz3 »

nebula8804 wrote: post #220
yanslookup wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't match my experience. I guess it depends on the role but for engineers it's well known Amazon has been throwing large sign on bonuses to close the vesting gap for years. For instance I received an offer that was 160 base, 325 cash bonus and 5% of my RSUs for my first year, putting my TC at ~510k. Second year was a slightly smaller bonus, and 15% of my RSUs. Is it possible that when folks were voluntarily…

>For instance I received an offer that was 160 base, 325 cash bonus and 5% of my RSUs for my first year, putting my TC at ~510k. Second year was a slightly smaller bonus, and 15% of my RSUs. Jeebus man. What is it that you FAANG developers do that is so much more complex than what regular developers do? For reference: I do Angular and Python development. Is there like some open source project or code samples that giv…

People are paid based on value created and responsibility. All else being equal, better to work for companies where you create more value.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#274

Post by azemetre »

mrep wrote: post #212
kar5pt wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is the only FAANG recruiter I ignore. Working 60 hour weeks just so I can get PIPed within 9 months of starting? No thanks.

Your mileage may very but I only worked 40 hours a week when I was there and I also got promoted in about a year and a half.

You have to understand their concern though, there are so many terrible stories about working for Amazon that it seems to be the expected norm rather than the reverse.

What's even worse is that it permeates throughout the entire company, every division, every org.

You have this article written nearly 7-years ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-...

Money quote:

> “You walk out of a conference room and you’ll see a grown man covering his face,” he said. “Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”

The culture only seems to have gotten worse.

Another person posted elsewhere but Amazon seems to be doing anything they can but actually fixing their toxic culture.

I've worked one bad job and there's no amount of money I would accept to mitigate the loss in quality of sleep, becoming depressed when going to work, and dreading when I had to communicate with anyone.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#276

Post by dvtrn »

fshbbdssbbgdd wrote: post #258
dvtrn wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only because I'd rather ask and make sure I'm tracking acronyms properly while reading comments: TC is "Total Compensation" right? As in salary + equity and other benefits and etc? Or does it usually refer to just cash salary?

TC includes salary, stock, and bonus pre-tax. It doesn’t include 401k, medical, food or other fringe benefits.

It doesn’t include 401k, medical

Ahh interesting, I assumed it included things like bonuses and equity, but am surprised to learn 401k contributions are not considered TC. Is this the case even for matched contributions made by the employer?

Meaning if I contribute x (money I was compensated already as a portion of salary), and employer contributes %/x (money the company effectively "gives" me), is that percentage not considered part of the "TC" terminology? OR am I exhibiting an unfortunate misunderstanding of 401k matches?

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#277

Post by mrep »

ipaddr wrote: post #266
mrep wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your mileage may very but I only worked 40 hours a week when I was there and I also got promoted in about a year and a half.

Why did you leave?

GOOG pay + benefits > AMZN. No on-call at GOOG too which is nice and I get to work for Google maps which is like my favorite software application as I use it every time I drive.

I'd consider going back for a fully remote job with like a 35% pay bump though. Although if I'm just going for the money, I'd probably switch to one of the trading firms that have been hounding me. Got one email recently for a fully remote job with compensation wide open (anywhere from 275k-650k+).

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#278

Post by rybosworld »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #233

Will Amazon at any point start considering hiring more engineers from countries that command lesser salaries like Brazil/EU than they do US engineers? Why do US engineers command such higher salaries?

European labor laws are a major factor. It's much harder to fire people and a company like Amazon loves to fire people.

I imagine Brazil doesn't have enough of a talent pool to draw from.

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#279

Post by bagacrap »

etempleton wrote: post #228

This is good news for tech workers, but the income disparity between Amazon tech workers and Amazon warehouse/delivery workers is absolutely obscene. Understandably, skilled vs unskilled labor, and supply and demand, and all that, but as Jon Stewart recently recounted telling Jeff Bezos at a dinner party, “sounds like a recipe for a revolution.”

it seems like learning how to code would be easier than overthrowing the govt (at least it did to me back before I had any skills)

Re: Amazon more than doubles max base pay to $350k

#280

Post by d136o »

hobo_mark wrote: post #44
xiphias2 wrote: post #13

As a Googler I was approached by Amazon, and when I started to look at the culture, a photo came out with Jeff Bezos using a door because he was too ,,frugal’’ to buy a desk… I would never join an office where people are proud of that.

Google started the same way: > Brin and Page filled the garage with desks made of old pine doors set on sawhorses, a turquoise shag carpet, and a Ping-Pong table. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/04/sergey-brin-amanda-...

Jeff was even an early google investor, maybe the door desk idea got around…

https://www.growthink.com/content/story-jeff-bezos-250000-in...

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